Word.ws English Dictionary

joint

/d͡ʒɔɪnt/

joint adjective: united, combined. Also the past participle of join.

joint: united, combined
Image: Pwld, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

joint (not comparable)

  1. United, combined
    • the joint influences of culture and climate
  2. Done by two or more people or organisations working together.
    • The play was a joint production between the two companies.
    • A joint burden laid upon us all.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
    Synonyms:
    mutual, shared

Noun

joint (plural joints)

  1. The point where two components of a structure join, but are still able to rotate.
    • This rod is free to swing at the joint with the platform.
    Synonyms:
    hinge, pivot
  2. The point where two components of a structure join rigidly.
    • The water is leaking out of the joint between the two pipes.
  3. Any part of an animalian body where two bones or exoskeleton segments are abutted, in most cases allowing that part of the body to be bent or straightened.
  4. The means of securing together the meeting surfaces of components of a structure.
    • The dovetail joint, while more difficult to make, is also quite strong.
  5. A cut of meat, especially (but not necessarily) (a) one containing a joint in the sense of an articulation or (b) one rolled up and tied.
    • Near-synonym: roast
    • Set the joint in a roasting tin and roast for the calculated cooking time.
    Synonyms:
    roast
  6. The part or space included between two joints, knots, nodes, or articulations.
    • a joint of cane or of a grass stem; a joint of the leg
  7. A fracture in which the strata are not offset; a geologic joint.
  8. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular, may be somewhat derogatory) A place of business, particularly in the food service or hospitality industries; sometimes extended to any place that is a focus of human connection or activity (e.g., schools, hangouts, party spots).
    • It was the kind of joint you wouldn't want your boss to see you in.
    • "...Where's the ladies' in this joint? I've to powder me nose."1996, Deirdre Purcell, Roses After Rain, page 335
    Synonyms:
    jawn, shebang
    1. (US, dated, slang, African-American Vernacular, may be somewhat derogatory) A place of resort for tramps.
    2. (US, dated, slang, African-American Vernacular, may be somewhat derogatory) An opium den.
    3. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular, may be somewhat derogatory) Prison, jail, or lockup.
      • Now you're gonna put me right back in the joint.1980 June 20, Dan Aykroyd, John Landis, 25:19 from the start, in John Landis, director, The Blues Brothers (film), spoken by "Joliet" Jake Blue (John Belushi), Universal Pictures
      • I'm just trying to stay out of the joint.
  9. (US, slang) A marijuana cigarette.
    • After locking the door and closing the shades, they lit the joint.
  10. (dated, slang) A syringe used to inject an illicit drug.
    • Captain Jack McMahon, chief of Houston's police narcotics division, holds tools of the “junkie” trade, including “joints” (syringes), needles, heroin, milk sugar (used to cut pure heroin), spoons for heating a shot of heroin (mixed with water), […]1954, Listen, volumes 7-10, page 131
  11. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular) The penis.
    • Inez called up Camille on the phone repeatedly and had long talks with her; they even talked about his joint, or so Dean claimed.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 1, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 4
    • There I was, going down at last on the star of all those pornographic films that I had been producing in my head since I first laid a hand upon my own joint . . .1969, Philip Roth, “Cunt Crazy”, in Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, published 1994, page 158
  12. (African-American Vernacular) A thing.
    • a Spike Lee joint
    • Compare: jawn

Verb

joint (third-person singular simple present joints, present participle jointing, simple past and past participle jointed)

  1. (transitive) To unite by a joint or joints; to fit together; to prepare so as to fit together
    • to joint boards
    • a jointing plane
  2. (transitive) To join; to connect; to unite; to combine.
    • But soon that war had end, and the time's state
      Made friends of them, jointing their force 'gainst Caesarc. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  3. (transitive) To provide with a joint or joints; to articulate.
    • The fingers are […]jointed together for motion.1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC
  4. (transitive) To separate the joints; of; to divide at the joint or joints; to disjoint; to cut up into joints, as meat.
    • Another time alſo being minded to entertain king Priamus friendly, when he came unto his pavilion: / He then beſtir'd himſelfe, and caught up ſoone, / A good white ſheepe, whoſe throat he cut anon. / but about cutting it up, quartering, jointing, ſeething, and roſting, he ſpent a great part of the...1603, Plutarch, “[The Morals, or Miscellane Works of Plutarch. The Second Tome.] The Seventh Book. Of Symposiaques, or Banquet-Discourses.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie...
    • He joints the neck.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  5. (intransitive) To fit as if by joints; to coalesce as joints do.
    • the stones joint, neatly.

Also used as

joint is also the past participle of join.

joint meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

joint in Hindi

part of the body where bones join
संधि sandhi

joint in Tamil

கூட்டு

joint in Marathi

संयुक्त

joint in Urdu

مشترکہ
More languagesFewer languages
joint in Bengali
যুক্ত jukto
joint in Telugu
కీలు kīlu
joint in Malayalam
സംയുക്ത saṁyukta
joint in Kannada
ಜಂಟಿ
joint in Punjabi
ਸੰਯੁਕਤ, ਜੁਆਇੰਟ
joint in Gujarati
સાંધાકીય
joint in Odia
ଯୁଗ୍ମ
joint in Nepali
संयुक्त
joint in Tagalog
kasukasuan, sugpong, bukong
joint in Arabic
مُشْتَرَك muštarak, مِفْصَل mifṣal
joint in Malay
sendi
joint in Indonesian
sendi, cimeng
joint in Persian
مفصل mefsal, بندگاه bandgâh
joint in Thai
ข้อ kɔ̂ɔ, ข้อต่อ kɔ̂ɔ-dtɔ̀ɔ
joint in Vietnamese
khớp, khớp xương

Examples of joint in a sentence

  • Sham Shui Po might be one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighbourhoods but it has a rich immigrant history and a glut of fantastic street-food joints.2021 August 18, Lee Cobaj, “Best things to do in Hong Kong”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Oct 2021:
  • "Good, then," I said, my joint about to skeet like a water pistol.2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 17:
  • Pierced through the yielding planks of jointed wood.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and...
  • The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails.2014 August 17, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards [print version: Never buy anything from a salesman, 16...

All 40 example sentences with joint

Synonyms of joint

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of joint

Forms of joint

Noun
pluraljoints
Verb
third-person singular presentjoints
present participlejointing
past participlejointed
pastjointed

Past tense of joint: jointed

Plural of joint: joints

Origin of joint

The noun is from Middle English joynt (attested since the late 13th century), from Old French joint (“joint of the body”) (attested since the 12th century). The adjective (attested since the 15th century) is from Old French jointiz. Both Old French words are from Latin iūnctus, the past participle of iungō. See also join, jugular, junction. Displaced Old English fōg and partially displaced English lith. The meaning of "building, establishment", especially in connection with shady activities, appeared in Anglo-Irish by 1821 and entered general American English slang by 1877, especially in the sense of "opium den". The sense "marijuana cigarette" is attested since 1935. The development to meaning "any thing" also happened to the Scots and Memphian form junt and the Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphian form jawn.

From Middle English or following the -t model for forming a past participle.

Words formed from joint

Phrases with joint

98 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with joint

7 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about joint

What does joint mean?
Joint means united, combined.
What is joint in Hindi?
Joint in Hindi is संधि (sandhi). See Joint meaning in Hindi.
How do you use joint in a sentence?
Sham Shui Po might be one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighbourhoods but it has a rich immigrant history and a glut of fantastic street-food joints.
What part of speech is joint?
Joint can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce joint?
Joint is pronounced /d͡ʒɔɪnt/.

Words near joint in the dictionary

  1. joins the choir invisible
  2. joins the dots
  3. joins the majority
  4. joins up
  5. Joinson
  6. joint
  7. Joint Academic Network
  8. joint account
  9. joint accounts
  10. joint and several
  11. joint aspiration

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: joint (page history and authors); joint (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); joint (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-joint.ogg.

Cite this entry: “joint.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/joint. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.